Margaret Parkinson

For anyone who may be interested in what is happening here as well as the riots.

On our return from NZ 8th March my husband was suffering from a bad hip. This had not been helped by all the walking we ending up doing at Heathrow Airport despite booking wheelchair assistance. You will have read about this in my NZ holiday post.

Visited doctor and he arranged for Alan to have an X-ray. This was done and the doctor suggested physio may help in the first instant. No word from anyone so returned to the doctors early May who then gave Alan pain patches to help with the pain and he would chase everyone up. Got a phone call from physio dept to attend 7th June and also got an appointment for Assessment Centre in Bolton 14th June. (www.greater-manchester-cats.com) Now I have to tell you these units are up and down the North West. This particular one is on the B & Q Car Park. Went to physio who said she could not help with the pain but give him some exercises to do while waiting for hip replacement that definitely needed doing.

Went to Assessment Centre 14th June saw a consultant who said he could not refer me for surgery on the evidence of the x-ray. At this the nurse suggested an MRI scan. Oh yes said the doctor then that will give us bigger picture. MRI scan arranged for 8th July at same place. They also took swabs for MRSA which according to the nurse cost £15 each, she took 3 and they last 6 weeks. Phone call 12th July could we go back for another Blood Test that day so off we went. On arrival we were told the consultant would like to see us. He told us Alan could be referred for surgery and a nurse would arrange it for us. Alan said he would prefer going to Bolton because this is where he had had his knees done. She said there is a 70 day waiting list for there and would we like to go private. She asked about Alan's medical condition which is Angina. An appointment was made for the for the 27th July. This is when we began to get worried. The consultant explained there is a lot of blood loss with an hip-replacement and although he was willing to do the op it would depend on the anaesthetist because there is not intensive care unit and should anything go wrong would have to be transferred to Bolton in a hurry.
We said if he is refused what then and he said we would be referred to Bolton.

So back to the doctors who assured us they would not put his life a risk and to see if he was accepted. However, because we feel so uneasy about it we have decided to wait and see someone at Bolton. I had already spoken to the Practice Nurse a few days earlier who said she would send off Alan's details to Bolton in case he was transferred to there.

We got a letter on Saturday for 29th September which we had to confirm. When we rang up were told sorry this has now been changed to 5th October.

We had asked out doctor if he had sent us to this so called Fast Track Unit and he said no he had just sent off a referral for whichever came first. We have spoken to the Practice Nurse at our surgery who I have to say is very good. She said although we are classed as a new patient at Bolton we will not go at the bottom of the waiting list for the op. Time will tell. I will keep you posted.

This is quite true a friend of mine her husband 1 month ago went to have his hip done had fasted the night before going in. He had been got ready for surgery, the surgeon & anaesthetist had been to see him and told him he was the first on this list that day. Then 4 men in suits came and said they thought he was too young for the op (he's 60) and would be having a steroid injection instead and sent him home. He & his wife are still trying to find out who they were that had overruled the surgeon.

June

BEVS

Sorry to read this about the hips June.

Oddly enough I was talking with a friend of mine about this just this afternoon. She needs a knee replacement & is in a huge amount of pain. She is just over 60 and there is no chance in the near future as she is deemed too young. The waiting lists are long and they can't afford private. She's been told maybe when she hits 70 . It's madness. She has a job when she is able to do it and as she said, could be far more useful to society if she could get around properly .

Margaret Parkinson

How things can change in just 2 years. When we came back from NZ in 2009 Alan saw a consultant who did 1 knee in June and said if all went well with that one he would do the other one 3 months later which he did in June. We had explained to him we liked to visit the family in NZ every January but because it was long haul could not fly for 6 months.

He will be 77 this month and you cannot afford to put your life on hold. We love to go on holiday but this is out of the question now because one you are on a waiting list insurance will not cover you.

June

I have sent you a private message.

Stormer999

Very sorry to read of your troubles. Our local hospital has cut back to virtually no hip and knee replacements instead offering physio and painkillers at consultation stage(to stay within the said time period of treatment). More and more fliers are being posted offering these operations privately (by the same surgeons) knowing people will be forced to find the cash somehow to end their misery of pain and disability. The main Coventry hospital seem to be moving the age restriction out to suit their remaining cash flow for this type of op, all in all we are looking at a miserable demise to the NHS we all once knew.

Margaret Parkinson

The end of the saga. Alan at long last had his hip replaced last Friday 9th Dec. He had to go in a 9 am and the op was in the afternoon. He did not get back into the ward until 6.30 in the evening. He spent Fri, Sat & Sun there and I had to bring him home 6.30 Monday evening. They don't keep you long these days do they. Anyway he is doing fine and the District Nurses will come for a day or two to make sure he is OK and dress his wound etc. They will come again on the 23rd to remove his clips. He is also having injections in his tummy to stop thrombosis. They are going to show me how to do it today so this could be fun.

I also saw that I had made a mistake in an earlier post regarding his knee ops. One was done in March and the other in June.

June

Stormer999

Excellent news a result at last.....

Nice Guy

Hope he gets better and up and about very soon!

BEVS

It's a good present for Christmas June.
Hope the recovery is smooth & he's up and about in no time at all.